A University of Wyoming wind study shows that combining the wind resources of Wyoming and Colorado would benefit the Colorado energy grid.
U-W Wind Energy Research Center Director Jonathan Naughton said that’s because wind in Colorado and Wyoming blows differently. He said that if the resources are combined, it would make wind power more consistent.
“It easier to integrate into the grid, saves in money that you don’t have to use for purchasing backup power that would likely come from gas turbine engines fired by natural gas.”
And, not using natural gas fired backup power would help the environment said Naughton.
“So there are multiple impacts that make the combination of two locations geographically diverse like Wyoming and Colorado, that make for real benefits in terms of trying to expand the use of wind energy in our electrical use.”
The Wyoming Infrastructure Authority says new transmission infrastructure would need to be built in order to better take advantage of the two wind sources.